SOUNDS LIKE A LOSS FOR SDSU

It was loud in Moby Arena all night, and not just because students were waiting in line several hours before tipoff and a courtside decibel meter registered an ear-splitting 125.6.

It was loud in color, too. This was the annual “Orange Out,” where everyone wears orange in honor of the school’s original colors of “pumpkin orange” and “alfalfa green.”

Put it this way: The alfalfa part was under-represented.

The players wore orange jerseys and orange shorts and orange sneakers. Game staff wore orange. Fans wore orange. Cheerleaders wore orange. Those students with their shirts on wore orange.

Still, the Aztecs hung around. They weren’t quite as torrid behind the 3-point line as the first meeting with Colorado State, when their first eight baskets were all 3s and they finished the half 8 of 12. But they were close. They made 5 of 10 behind the arc in the first half, including 3 of 3 by Chase Tapley.

The difference, though, was that they didn’t lead by 18. Instead it was tied 35-35 at the half, thanks to CSU’s 22-12 rebounding advantage and only one foul whistled in the first 18 minutes against a team many coaches rate the most physical in the nation.

Next up for the Aztecs in this most brutal of weeks: at UNLV on Saturday night.